During the infancy of the World Wide Web (“WWW” or the “Web”), hyper-text markup language (“HTML”) was used almost exclusively for the presentation of Web pages within a Web browser. However, due to the limitations of HTML, technologies were created that enable the presentation of more robust information than permitted by HTML. These technologies, such as JAVA from SUN MICROSYSTEMS® and ACTIVEX® from MICROSOFT CORPORATION®, allow client-side browser objects to be created that provide functionality not possible through the use of only HTML. JAVA applications (“applets”) and ACTIVEX® controls executing within a Web browser can provide rich graphics, animation, dynamic content, continuously updated content, and other types of robust data presentation not previously possible using only HTML. Web part objects (“Web parts”) can also provide dynamic content, interoperability with other Web part objects, and robust communication with server-side components. These types of client-side browser objects have greatly enhanced the presentation capabilities of today's Web browsers.
One difficulty encountered when utilizing client-side browser objects occurs when it is desirable for a client-side browser object to utilize property values that are utilized by a server-side component. For instance, in one scenario a server-side component may maintain a property that identifies a uniform resource locator (“URL”) for a database interface to be utilized in conjunction with a Web site. The URL may be utilized by a client-side browser object to locate a source of data to be displayed within a Web page. However, if the property is maintained by the server-side component, it can be very difficult to expose the value of the property to the client-side browser object in a manner that easily allows the client-side object to make use of the property value.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.